McAfee Pays $50M To Settle SEC's Fraud Charges

Law360 (January 4, 2006, 12:00 AM EST) -- Security software maker McAfee Inc. is settling fraud charges with a $50 million payout to the Securities and Exchange Commission, which accused the company of ignoring massive financial overstatements during the turn of the century.

The SEC accused McAfee of inflating its cumulative net revenue by $622 million between 1998 and 2000. The bulk of the fraud took place in 1998, when the California-based company overstated revenue by $562 million, or 131%, according to the complaint.